In addition to our backstage presence and SOCAN HQ activities, SOCAN was on the scene during JUNO weekend 2025 in Hamilton, co-presenting the ever-popular JUNO Songwriters Circle, awarding two JUNOs, and honouring several members with No. 1 Song awards.
Known as “the jewel of the JUNOs,” The Songwriters Circle – held Friday, Mar. 27, at First Ontario Place in Hamilton – offered candid conversations and thrilling performances that created memorable connections between the artists and the audience. CBC on-air host Elamin Abdelmahmoud moderated the discussion with singer-songwriters Bahamas, Savannah Ré, Hayley Gene Penner, Mariel Buckley, Aysanabee, Jade LeMac, James Barker, and Sofia Camara with co-writer/producer Nate Ferraro.
Over the course of the weekend, Aysanabee would win two JUNO Awards (Contemporary Indigenous and Alternative Album of the Year, both for Edge of the Earth); Buckley would earn one (Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, for Strange Trip Ahead); and Bahamas would tie with Begonia for another (Adult Alternative Album of the Year, for My Second Last Album).
At the non-televised Gala JUNO Awards Dinner on Saturday, Mar. 28, SOCAN CEO Jennifer Brown co-presented the Songwriter of the Year Award to Daniel Caesar, while SOCAN Chief Membership Officer Cameron Kennedy co-presented the Non-Performing Songwriter of the Year Award to Tobias Jesso Jr., though neither artist was on hand to accept.
Over the course of the weekend, at SOCAN HQ in the East Ballroom of the host hotel, the Sheraton, we presented five SOCAN No. 1 Song Awards – including our first three for reaching the peak of the Indigenous Music Countdown chart – to The Trews, Sebastian Gaskin, Tia Wood, Three Days Grace, and Siibii. Please stay tuned to this online space for separate coverage of each of those honours.